


The Spirit of Vengeance: Pilot

by Tesla_Rolex



Series: Marvel Knights [1]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Angst, Brutality, Motorcyclesssssss, Vigilantism, Violence, Yakuza, angst???, yeah - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2019-09-29
Packaged: 2020-11-07 13:14:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20817863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tesla_Rolex/pseuds/Tesla_Rolex
Summary: On a lone night in the year 2018, fifteen people are killed in a bar.On a lone night in the year 2018, six assassins working for the Yakuza enjoy their last drink.On a lone night in the year 2018...the Rider hunts once again.Late prompt for Makoto week day 3: What if?What if Makoto Niijima was the Marvel "Hero" known as Ghost Rider?





	The Spirit of Vengeance: Pilot

**Author's Note:**

> Helllllllo everyone! How are you guys doing?  
So this is my very late Makoto Week 2019 prompt. I worked on this for two weeks...and then restarted from scratch yesterday because the length was a bit ridiculous. But it worked out! Cause im super proud of this fic!  
So this is something i've been planning for a loooong time. This was one of the first AUs I ever came up with, and it's a big one. Makoto as Ghost Rider just sounded so perfect. From there, I built up the world and...well, you'll see what I've come up with.  
I hope you enjoy!

2018:

“Cheers! To another successful operation!”

The group of six Yakuza clinked their glasses together, celebrating their victorious circumstances. Each had coordinated a hit against major players in Shibuya’s political sphere, as ordered by a  _ very _ high paying client. The hit was successful, and now they were in an underground bar waiting for their paycheck. 

This underground bar was hidden and protected against all police, and guarded by upwards of 25 to 30 guards, depending on the day and shift. Today just happened to be a day where the guards were fully stacked. The motley crew of Yakuza operators weren’t the only patrons of the bar either. It was filled to the brim with mobsters, serial killers, essentially some of the most evil and sinister monsters in the entire city. 

One of the six, a man named Takeshi laughed. “You should’ve seen the look on Hideki’s face! He went all,” He started to speak in a mocking tone, “‘Oh please don’t sir, I have a family, you don’t have to do this!’ It was sooooo pathetic!”

The others at the table laughed, as another man named Katashi grinned. “My guy was worse! He started crying at the spot and tried to offer me some money, but all he had was 40,000 yen! I can barely buy a car for that money!”

A third man named Nori smirked as the others all clapped and laughed. “This was probably our most successful job yet. The paycheck the Kingpin is going to give us is going to be-”

The fourth assassin, Shou laughed. “Off the charts!”

The fifth assassin named Yamato stepped in with a grin and a sinister tone. “It may even be enough money to overthrow the Hand themselves!”

And finally, the leader of the assassins named Ryo revealed an ear splitting grin that showed all of his teeth. “We did good everyone. Tonight we celebrate, but tomorrow...we plan for the operation of the century: Finally taking it to the Hand!”

The assassins all clinked their drinks together, with one of them shouting, “Those stupid cultist bastards won’t know what hit ‘em!”

Eventually, Shou smiled softly. “Hey, let’s see what’s on the TV!”

The others nodded with a grin as he grabbed the remote and started cycling through the channels. 

“It’s been ten years since the Hulk died-”

“The Avengers. Who are they really? Find out on tonight’s episode of-”

“Massive shootout in downtown Shibuya-”

“Do you want to buy some cereal-”

“Mysterious Moon symbol appeared in Aoyama-Itchome-”

“Super Smash Brothers Ultimate, coming December-”

“Mafia enters warpath as major evidence appears with the police-”

“Tonight on tales to astonish, the story of the bulletproof man!”

“We are joined tonight by Iron Man and Captain America themselves, Tatsuya Suou and Yu Narukami!”

“My name is Shiho Suzui, and do you have a mystery that needs solving? Well come on down to Atlas Investigations!”

“Shujin University, the place for you!”

“Mysterious black sludge found in sewers-”

“Okumura Corp. Helping you with what you need-”

“Do you want to paint? Learn from the master himself, Yusuke Kitagawa!”

“Tonight in Inaba, the masked vigilante known as Daredevil has-”

“Welcome to Shibuya News Tonight. I’m your host, Eiko Takao. Now for tonight’s leading story.”

The Yakuza assassins all looked at each other with glee. Shou shouted. “Hey! I think this is us!”

Takeshi grinned. “Oh here we go.”

The newscaster continued. “15 armed assailants were found dead at a local underground bar near Shinjuku. According to the local police, these victims were members of the Shinjuku branch of the Yakuza. We have Yosuke Hanumura on scene. Yosuke?”

It cut to the Shinjuku streets. The bar behind the fawn haired man was burnt to cinders. “Thanks Eiko. According to inside sources, the bodies were found to be completely incinerated! We have a witness here to describe what he saw!”

The man turned to the witness, who was a red haired girl with a ponytail. “It was crazy! I was just passing by until I suddenly saw this burning figure bust through the window of this bar with a motorcycle! And then I heard gunshots, but the figure just walked towards them! And then! Pow! Bang! It killed them all! Dude! I can’t believe I saw the Ghost Rider tonight! Wait until my friends hear about this!”

The woman ran away as Yosuke chuckled slightly, facing back towards the camera. “Wow uh...someone is excited for having just witnessed the death of fifteen people. Well, she put it better than I ever could have: this is no doubt the work of the infamous Ghost Rider.”

They put a shadowy figure with a motorcycle helmet and a motorcycle up on the screen. Both the figure and the motorcycle were on fire. “For those who are new to this city, the Ghost Rider has been around for two years and has dealt a blow to Shibuya’s major crime syndicates using forceful and often extreme measures. Some, including the police, very much doubt and question their methods and have desperately tried to take Ghost Rider since the moment...it? Would I call the Rider an it? Cause whatever it is isn’t human. Anyways, the cops have tried to take it in since the moment it appeared.”

“Anyways, we’ll likely get a report from Ace Detective Goro Akechi soon, so we’ll keep you in the loop. Back to Eiko!”

The news continued, while the assasins all looked at each other with different expressions. Mostly anger. 

Shou groaned. “Come on! They didn’t even mention us!”

Takeshi exclaimed. “It’s absurd! We just crippled a major political party, and nothing about us?”

Ryo laughed softly. “Come on guys, them not mentioning us is a good thing. Kingpin did say he wanted this to go under the radar, and plus we’re assassins! That’s how this is supposed to go!”

Nori spoke with a slight smirk to his voice. “Yeah, but real talk, what about that Ghost Rider fella? He went after the Yakuza?”

Yamato whistled. “Yeah! The balls on that guy, he’s so dead now.”

Katashi wavered slightly, while Takeshi looked nervous. “I wouldn’t be so sure. Have you heard the rumors about this guy? Some say he can control a person just by branding them.”

Nori nodded, with an expression changed from mocking to...fearful. “Yeah. I also heard that he can burn people's souls with nothing but a look into your eyes. And that his motorcycle goes through walls!”

Yamato’s expression turned grave as well. “I’ve also heard that he’s invincible. That no matter where you go, you can never escape him.”

Even Shou, the cocky assassin, looked nervous. “I’ve even heard that this he...may not even be a he! It could be a she, they, or something else entirely. If you ask me...I don’t think it’s even human.”

Katashi’s hands were shaking. “There was a crew I ran with six months ago. Six people. They were the best of the best. We were doing a job when they got  _ slaughtered _ by  _ it _ . We gave it everything we got: smgs, AKs, even rocket launchers. But it just walked right through it. It used those chains wrapped around it’s arms and beat one of my buds to a pulp. It incinerated the rest of us. I barely survived. I’ve learned a lot on this job, but the biggest lesson I’ve learned...is not to mess with the rider.”

The atmosphere between the six changed from one of glee to one of pure unadulterated fear. It would’ve continued if not for Ryo laughing. “You idiots! You shouldn’t be scared of someone like him! Whether it’s a him or her, doesn’t matter. It wouldn’t be able to stand up to us. Come on barkeep, get us another round! We need to put on some TV! What do you guys think?”

The others looked hesitant for a second, but then Shou smirked. “Yeah! We shouldn’t get down on something like this! Besides, when would we ever encounter the Rider! We just nailed 6 guys, who cares about that chump!”

The others soon agreed as more drinks were passed around...but what no one noticed was Katashi’s continued panic as a blue light started to emerge from his chest and seep into his eyes.

Shou was the first to spot Katashi jittering. “Uh Katashi? You good man?”

His jittering increased until he started to spit out blood and the jittering turned to convulsing. Now the whole table started to panic. 

Ryo looked frozen in place, Nori jumped up in horror, Yamato looked around nervously, Takeshi yelled, “Jesus!”, and Shou was about to call the barkeep until the convulsing just...stopped. 

Katashi shook his body a bit and looked at his friends as he stretched. “Uhhhh sorry about that, anxiety got to me a bit.”

The whole table looked shocked. Shou spoke with a nervous tone. “Are you...sure you’re good Katashi?”

He scoffed. “Of course! Just...the Rider is a sensitive subject for me, sorry.”

The others nodded slowly while Ryo just stared right at him. Soon, the nervousness dissipated, and they started to have some of their drinks. But Ryo never stopped looking at Katashi with a scowl on his face. 

Eventually, Katashi smirked and stood up to talk to the bartender. He came back with a grin on his face. 

Yamato smiled lightly. “What happened back there?”

Nori smirked. “Must’ve been something if you’re grinning that much!”

Then Shou grinned. “Did you get that chick’s number or something?”

Katashi laughed, and now Takeshi was looking at him suspiciously. “Nah. I just changed the song.”

Then the  [ song changed ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fAjyFbyb4o) .

And then everyone noticed the change in Katashi.

His eyes were glowing blue. 

And so was his chest. Because hidden under his buttoned up shirt...was a brand. A brand of what appeared to be the hand of a skeleton. 

The music droned on as Katashi started to laugh. 

“Children have you ever met the Boogeyman before?

No of course you haven’t, for you're much too good I’m sure!”

Don't you be afraid of him if he should visit you

He’s a great big coward so I’ll tell you what to do!

Hush hush hush

Here comes the  _ Boogeyman _ !”

Katashi smirked. “Oh you guys are a riot. I’ve been planning this hit for ages, and you guys just come together and announce your crimes to each other? That’s too good. You guys should’ve realized once Katashi opened his dumb mouth.

_ Nothing ever escapes me _ .”

Shou’s eyes went wide. “The Rider…”

“In the flesh!”  _ It _ Shrugged. “Well, sort of. My ride’s on my way here, so why don’t we talk? Or, let’s not! I’m up for either!”

Ryo immediately stood up and pointed his gun at “Katashi”. “You fucking coward!”

Takeshi looked at him with a scowl. “What are you doing you stupid asshole?!”

Ryo continued. “So what, you knew about our plan this whole time? Why didn’t you do anything you pathetic half-measure?”

“Katashi” grinned. “I  _ did _ . You idiots all ran away too quickly from the scene, not bothering to check the bodies. You ever wonder why the news didn’t cover you?  _ Because no one died _ . I just took their soul and gave it back to them once they left...well except for the assholes who were corrupt.”

Ryo’s hand shook as he flailed the gun in its face. “You’re  ** _LYING_ ** !”

“Why do you think the money hasn’t arrived yet?”

Shou looked stunned. “Oh no.”

Nori looked tired. “We...failed. All that money...gone.”

Yamato looked scared. “Kingpin will kill us.”

Ryo however, looked  _ pissed _ . He pointed the gun right at Katashi’s head. “You’re dead.  **YOU HEAR ME?! YOU ARE DEAD!** ”

“Katashi” didn’t respond. It just laughed. “Oh man. You guys are hilarious. But unfortunately my ride’s here. Let’s make this quick.”

Suddenly, an explosion rang through the entire bar. Everyone was knocked to the ground, except Nori, who was blown back into a wall. His entire body  _ cracked _ , and he slumped to the ground, dead. 

Ryo’s ears rang as he heard gunshots echo throughout the bar. He heard...ripping? No, it was something more gruesome than that. It was the sound of blood splattering everywhere. And  _ screaming _ . He also heard a faint revving of a motorcycle. 

He looked around as red started to fill his vision. His whole body felt...limp. Wrong. He heard Takeshi screaming. 

“Please, you don’t have to do this! I’m begging you man, please!”

He was interrupted by a figure dragging him as he screamed at the top of his lungs. Blood splattered from the inside of the smoke cloud that had now flooded the bar. Then he heard Nori begging, saying he would pay the figure anything.

Then he screamed too. 

Ryo tried to crawl away slowly as more gunshots rang out. And as they were silenced, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He recoiled until he saw a bleeding Shou on the ground next to him.

He said no words, just had an expression full of fear. Ryo had known him for five years. He’d always been a talker, a cocky son of a bitch who always had something to say. But now he had no words. And yet his expression…

It talked more than any words possibly could. 

Before Ryo could grab Shou and assure him, they heard thundering footsteps from right in front of them. They looked and saw two black leather boots, each one leaving fire in its wake. In fact, fire surrounded the figure and raged throughout the entire bar. 

The two looked up and saw the rest of the haunting figure. It had a leather jacket with a hood, but that was covered in a blue fire, just like the rest of the bar, and the rest of its body. The jacket was covered with spikes made up of some kind of...bone? Parts of her left arm and right leg  _ floated _ as if the shards of bone and fire were separated from her body. And her  _ mask _ ...it wasn’t just a motorcycle helmet, it was a mask! Made of some kind of durable metal that was all black, with blue fire coursing through its edges. And it’s face...Ryo didn’t think it was possible for a mask to have a face, but it’s eyes and mouth were there, right on top of the mask. Both were made up of a blue fire too. It’s eyes looked like pupils that were had a black iris and a red pupil. And it’s mouth...it was grinning. 

It grabbed Shou and held him up. It looked at him, right in the eyes, as the Yakuza member started to gasp. 

The Rider looked amused, and then scoffed. “Hmph. You know nothing.”

Suddenly the man caught fire. He screamed out in agony as his whole body was covered in flames. Soon, there was no corpse left. Only ash. 

Ryo was the last of his team. 

Then the monster looked at him. It was still grinning. Ryo had never felt so scared in his life. 

It picked him up and walked over to a wall and slammed him against it. The fires seemed to move to the side just for a bit. And the monster...it  _ laughed _ .

“You’ve had a hell of a run. Perhaps I can make your death more swift if you tell me about your boss.”

He gasped. “Wha-what?”

For the first time, the monster’s grin wavered slightly. Suddenly, Ryo felt a burning pain throughout his whole body. It was like the inside of his body was set on fire...and it didn’t take long for him to realize that’s exactly what was happening.

The Rider leaned in close and sneered. “You heard me. I know your buddies in the Hand took a job for him. But no one has been able to tell me where he is. So maybe you can help me. Where is he? 

Where. Is. The. Kingpin?”

Ryo exclaimed in horror. “ **I DON’T KNOW! HE NEVER TOLD US ANYTHING, ONE OF HIS GUYS JUST CALLED US ON THE TELEPHONE!** ”

The monster’s grin dropped fully and it frowned. “Then you’re  _ useless _ to me.”

The burning pain only increased until Ryo shouted, “ **WAIT! I KNOW SOMEONE WHO MIGHT KNOW!** ”

The Rider turned to look at him slowly. It’s flaming eyes dilated and turned to pupils and stared right at him. “Tell. Me.”

“ **ICHIRYUSAI MADARAME! HE’S HIS COUNTERFEIT DEALER, HE’LL TELL YOU WHAT YOU WANT TO KNOW, I SWEAR!** ”

The Rider seemed to ponder this. Then it grinned once again. “Interesting. I’ll have to check in with the good artist.” It’s voice then turned chipper. The burning pain didn’t stop. “Welp! Thank you for your cooperation.”

Then it’s eyes looked right into his. They looked right into his soul as he felt the pain of everything he did wrong burn him alive. He screamed at the top of his lungs as the monster spoke with a dark tone. “Ryo Himura. Your sins are innumerous. You wanted to rule this town, wanted to become as gods. You were never going to become a god. But I can at least take you to one.”

The pain hit him more and more and more until he felt nothing anymore...he was just a husk. A husk made of all stone as his soul was now gone. Burnt to cinders. He was gone. The Rider just dropped the husk to the ground and it shattered. Now the entire bar was burning. The Rider’s motorcycle rode right over to it. It grinned as it heard the sirens in the distance.

“Hmph. Well, that was fun. But that’s my cue to leave. I would leave a tip but your service has been…”

It got on the motorcycle and revved it up. It smirked one last time. 

“Less than adequate.”

It revved the motorcycle one last time and drove through the now broken bar windows. It could hear the shouting and screaming throughout city as it road into the night, it’s mission having been completed.

* * *

The Next Day:

“Ugghhhhhh.”

Makoto Niijima woke up, with a phone call having woken her up. She was exhausted after the long night she had last night. Her right hand picked up her phone and she put it to her ear.

“Oh hey Ace Defective. How are you?”

“Don’t you ‘Ace Defective’ me! Where were you last night?! You were supposed to meet the new guy for orientation because I couldn’t make it!”

Makoto bolted up in bed. “Oh...I’m so sorry Akechi, I was busy last night.”

“Busy?! Busy my ass! You keep missing out, and I keep having to pick up your slack! I can’t do this anymore! If you’re going to be student council president, you need to take-”

“Responsibility, I know.” Makoto was now getting up and putting her uniform on as quickly as possible. “I’m sorry Akechi, I promise it won’t happen again.”

Akechi sighed on the other end of the line. “You keep promising. I keep doing my best to provide since Sae went off on her own. I became a detective just like we wanted to be as kids and...Makoto I’m so tired. I can’t keep doing this man, I’m just…”

Makoto stopped his train of thought. “Hey. It’s okay. I promise it won’t happen again. In fact, tonight, after I meet the guy at orientation, I promise to go on a night on the town with you. We can even go to the arcade, like we used to do when we were kids.”

“You promise?”

“...I promise as your sister.”

Akechi took another deep breath, but Makoto could hear the light smile on the other end. “Okay. But I’m kicking your ass in Smash, okay?”

Makoto giggled. “Not on your life!”

The two of them laughed slightly. Makoto then sighed. “I’ve got to go to Shujin...I love you Ake.”

“...I love you too Mako.”

The line went cold and Makoto sighed. She kept inconveniencing Akechi over and over again. She could see the toll it was taking on him and...it hurt her so much. She put on some  [ music ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lebQI1nztVI) to quell her guilt. 

“Well I get high and I get low

Oh but that's the way

These things go

I saw my face in the mirror

Though I know I've changed

Though I look

Much the same”

She looked in the mirror after she had gotten ready. Her left arm and right leg were still scarred after that incident sixteen years ago...the day she lost her family...the day she lost everything. It was also the day she met Akechi for the first time. Sae and her took him in, as a brother. Now things were different.

Now Makoto was cursed.

Traces of fire still oozed from her eyes. She looked behind her and saw her vacant motorcycle helmet. She couldn’t use her bike today, that’d be too suspicious. She was perfectly fine with walking. 

It seemed ironic. Making the life of her brother, a detective, hell just so she could exact vengeance across the criminal underworld of Shibuya. And she felt really bad about it too, especially because of how depressed Akechi has been lately...but she had no choice. This is what she had to do. The spirit of vengeance called her sixteen years ago as she watched both of her parents died.

And she answered the call.

And she would continue to answer the call until the very day she died.  


**Author's Note:**

> That was very brutal I know. I really wanted to emphasize the horror aspects of Ghost Rider, and I changed up some of her powers a bit to make her seem more menacing.  
So there was a lot of references there. Some were more obvious than others, and I encourage you to try and find them and tell me your thoughts on them! I will reveal a few right now  
Ren is supposed to be Daredevil.  
And Ryuji would be the Punisher. I even brought in Kasumi from the upcoming P5R!  
So, Makoto and Akechi as siblings was interesting to me. This isn't even remotely from the comics, but it's something I wanted to test out. And I think it worked out!  
So, please, tell me what you thought about the fic, and if you enjoyed it, I'll gladly make fics in this world!  
And if not...  
I'll probably make more anways ;)  
Thank you for reading and see ya soon!


End file.
